We
are working on design and implementation of a platform for
high-throughput drug screening. The platform consists of a
large-area, multiple electrode array chip capable of chronic, parallel
electrical recordings, microfluidic tissue culture system, and
organotypic brain slice cultures. We intend to use this
platform
in a search for antiepileptic drugs; however, we also plan to extend
the applications to other neurological and psychiatric disorders.

Molecular
signaling in post-traumatic epilepsy

We
are investigating signaling pathways that lead to acquired epilepsy.
We are using traditional molecular methods with a combination
of high-throughput techniques for assessing changes in
metabolism, cell death, and electrical activity in epileptic
hippocampus.

Neural circuit development on a chip

We
created a PDMS microfluidic device to study neural circuit development;
specifically, the activity dependence of axon sprouting. The
device made it possible to separately control activity in two halves of
a functionally connected circuit, and to measure effects on axons
(confined in microchannels, red in b') and synapses. This work
was featured in the Highlights in
Chemical Biology 5(3):1, 2010, published by
Royal Society of Chemistry.